WMO Workshop on Global Review of Regional Climate Outlook Forums

5-7 September, 2017, Guayaquil, Ecuador

Regional Climate Outlook Forum (RCOF) is a platform that brings together national, regional and international climate experts and stakeholders’ representatives from countries with common interests to provide climate predictions based on input from National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs), regional institutions, WMO Regional Climate Centres (RCCs), Global Producing Centres for Long Range Forecasts (GPC-LRFs) and other climate prediction centers. RCOFs were initiated in late 1990s under the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Climate Information and Prediction Services (CLIPS) project in collaboration with NMHSs, regional institutions and other international organizations. First established in 1996 at a Meeting in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, RCOFs gained momentum as a regional response to the major 1997–1998 El Niño event, since then RCOF concept has spread worldwide. RCOFs are widely recognized to be key elements in the implementation of the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS). As of date, the RCOF concept has completed 20 successful years of implementation, with 19 forums operational around the world.

Since the establishment of RCOFs the WMO has been actively supporting their operations, and conducting periodic expert review of RCOFs operation in order to identify gaps and challenges and propose way to improve and standardize the RCOF process. On the occasion of the RCOF concept completing two decades of successful implementation, WMO is organizing an International Workshop on Global Review of RCOFs, hereafter called Global RCOF Review 2017, to undertake a comprehensive review of the RCOF process, examining all aspects of the interpretation, creation and dissemination of regional climate outlooks as handled through the RCOFs, particularly in the light of the recent achievements and given the higher expectations and requirements of stakeholders in more actionable climate information tailored to their needs. The Global RCOF Review 2017 is built upon two similar reviews that were conducted in 2000 in Pretoria (South Africa), and in 2008 in Arusha (Tanzania), and will provide an opportunity to evaluate the development of RCOF concept since the last review.